Four More at Yale

I guess the music video worked. Jacques Steinberg writes in the New York Times that Yale’s freshman class next fall will include Kenny, Martina, Ray and Carol Crouch. Yale admitted the quadruplets to the school in December under early admission. According to the Steinberg article, all four said yes:

The family decided that… [the Yale offer] was the best. In an interview conducted by speakerphone Tuesday night, the siblings said they had decided to go to Yale, less than 40 miles from their home in Danbury, Conn.

The clincher, they said, was attending the university’s welcoming program for would-be Yalies last week, known as Bulldog Days, where they met their fellow classmates, and visited art classes and activities like the Yale Political Union. “It was just such an amazing atmosphere,” Kenny said. “Everyone was friendly and down to earth.”

The students have vaguely different academic interests and all applied to, and were accepted at, other schools. Each Crouch student ranks between 13 and 46 out of a class of 632 at Danbury High School.

While the Crouch quadruplets are obviously accomplished students, the fact remains: Yale accepts fewer than 8 percent of its applicants. The admissions office must turn away thousands of qualified students — including numerous valedictorians and even students with perfect SAT scores — simply because there is no space to accommodate them. Statistically speaking, the probability of four siblings (even highly qualified ones) all overcoming such slim odds in the same admissions cycle are minute.

Technically the statistical chance of anyone being admitted to Yale is slim, however. It’s entirely possible the quadruplet factor played a role in Yale’s decision. As I argued this morning, that sort of holistic admissions process seems entirely appropriate.

The Crouch family also reportedly received a very generous financial aid package from the college.[Image via]